TOMMY HAAS: There aren't really any weaknesses. You know, I think he moves such smooth ways and has such good defensive play. The slice bites a lot. You know, when you think sometimes you might get a relatively easy volley, he kind of either dinks it in front of you, or he made two spectacular slice lobs over my head at important points.

But, you know, there aren't really any weaknesses. I think sometimes maybe if he feels a little bit pressure or gets a little bit tight, maybe sometimes he can make some unforced errors, especially against those types of players that move really well themselves and keep the ball in play mostly than being very aggressive, such like maybe Andy Murray or, you know, Nadal or something. I think that's why he struggles against those guys every once in a while.

But, you know, I'm myself not that type of player. I have to go for my shots myself and be aggressive. So you just try to do your best with that.

March 23, 2009—Tommy Haas walked off the court in disbelief. He had just been upset by 142-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin, 4-6, 4-6. Haas was now ranked 87th, a career-low ranking for the German.

There had been talks about the 30-year-old retiring—he hadn't been playing well lately, and no one thought he would return to the top of his game again.

Fast forward to July 1, 2009—Haas delivers a huge, heavy forehand and raises his arms into the air. He had just beaten fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic, for the second time in the past month. This time, it was at Wimbledon, a 7-5, 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 triumph over the Serb. He had earned and deserved a spot in the semis.

Now, how did Haas get from a 87-ranked, retirement-talking 30-year-old, to becoming the oldest player ever in a Wimbledon semifinal?

Well, his journey started with losses to Mikhail Kukuskin and Bjorn Phau. He needed help. He went to visit some former players for advice. The former world-ranked No. 2 needed a drastic improvement.

His improvement showed in his very next tournament, as he stormed past his first three opponents easily, before losing to Andy Roddick in three sets. He still needed help, either a big boost in a Grand Slam, or something to make him believe in himself.

Well, that boost came in the French Open, when he got to the fourth round, only to face Roger Federer, who was seeking his first win on clay-court. Haas stormed to a 2-0 lead over King Roger, and in the third set, was five points away from ending the Swiss star's dream.

Not to be outdone, Roger roared back and took the third set from Haas. Federer dominated the fourth and fifth set, but for a 31-year-old, Haas gave it his absolute best.

That turned out to be the boost he needed, behind a home crowd in Halle, destroying Stefan Koubek and handily beating ninth-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonfa of France. In the third round, he faced Miscah Zverv and beat him just as easily.

In the semis, he faced fellow countryman Philip Kohlscriber, and after beating him, stunned the No. 1-seeded Djokovic—his comeback had begun. His win in Halle was his first ATP tour win since 2007, a huge accomplishment for him.

So, thats how Haas found himself on Centre Court in the first Men's Singles Wimbledon semifinals against Federer. In the first set, Haas played as well as he could have, holding serve in each of his six service games and pressuring Roger, but never breaking him.

In the tie-break, Federer blew the fans away with spectacular points, and won the set.

In the second, neither Tommy nor Federer seemed to have toned down the least bit. They both held serve for the first ten games of the set. Then, Haas began to crumble a bit. He lost 7-5 and 6-3 in the third to give Federer the win, and eventually the title.

Haas didn't seem too upset by the loss, because he played nearly the best tennis he could have.

One of the major reasons why Tommy's improved so much is because he used to rely solely on the power of his forehand, but he has improved his one-handed backhand and has put a lot more kick into his serve.

I think that's why Tommy has comeback into the top twenty. Now at No. 18, Haas is back to where he wanted to be.

His climb hopefully isn't over, and he could be going a lot further up. Wish him the best!

Last year in cincy, i actually watched him practice for an hour, vs some matches that were going on and that was 1 of the highlites of my day.

Logged

I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

I returned back home to Bradenton a few days ago and am now going through all the paperwork that has been piling up during my absence. At the same time, I am taking my time to review the successes of the past weeks.

I am also very pleased to have now found an excellent physiotherapist, Alex Stober. He is doing a great job and has got lots of experience as he has previously worked for the ATP and Pete Sampras. Working together with Thomas Hogstedt has also gone very well, so far. I hope he will continue supporting me at big tournaments. We haven't talked about an ongoing cooperation, as yet. The present solution seems the best, seeing that Thomas has a lot going on professionally at the moment.

By the way, I also followed the Davis-Cup duel between Spain and Germany. It's a shame that the boys didn't manage to advance in the end. I think Andi Beck is very talented, but he was probably lacking experience in the decisive match. A Davis- Cup match away from home can be hell sometimes. Which is why the defeat shouldn't be overrated. A lot of people asked me, whether I will be playing again in 2010. I think if I feel well and am needed I am certainly willing to give my best. It is always an honor to play for the German team.

I have to disappoint all of you who would like to have seen me play in Indianapolis. I will save my energy a little, because I have a few problems with my knees. Nothing serious, but I don't want to rush into anything. I will probably be able to start my hard court season in Los Angeles. By the way, I think it's great that you kept your fingers crossed for me in Halle and Wimbledon and that you bombarded me with questions these past days. Thanks a lot. You will, of course, find some answers in the "ask Tommy" area of this website. I hope you are going to keep it up; I think it is very exciting to read about what sort of things you want to know about me.

I will go and cool off now: at more than 30 Degrees here in Florida you break out into a sweat, especially outside the court.

Amazing start for Tommy as that was for me crucial knowing that last year he was already OUT in the 1st Round match vs Young.I'm very happy and can enjoy my time watching him at this very late stage so proudly.HC season has started very well for him and now will face his old friend Marat ! Oh can't wait for it!

Safin denied Haas on five break point chances early in the first set and broke the German at love in the seventh game for a 4-3 edge.

Haas, struggling with unforced errors, broke back in the eighth game but Safin broke again in the 11th game and served for the set but squandered three set points and wound up surrendering a break and the set in a tie-breaker.

Haas broke Safin for a 3-2 edge in the second set and again in the seventh game before holding in the last game to complete the victory.

In a perfect day in Washington for tennis, with temperatures hovering around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with unseasonably low humidity, Fernando (Ferocious forehand) Gonzalez of Chile defeated Germany’s Tommy Haas in the Legg Mason Tennis quarter finals in Washington, DC on midday on Friday, 7-5, 6-4. The match lasted less than an hour and a half, leaving fans eager for more tennis. If they want to see the quarter finals match between American Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, scheduled to start at 7 p.m., they better have purchased tickets ahead of time, since it is a reported sell out.

Gonzalez will now face last year’s Legg Mason champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in tomorrow’s semifinals. Del Potro gets by his quarterfinals match on a default by Sweden’s Robin Soderling, who injured his elbow in a match earlier in the week.

meanwhile....Sam Querrey's Samurai offer Tommy Haas an apologyThere was a bit of a ruckus at last week's L.A. Open men's tennis tournament at UCLA when eventual winner Sam Querrey's noisy group of fans who call themselves "the Samurai" earned themselves some disdain from Germany's Tommy Haas, the tournament's No. 1-seeded player who was upset by Querrey in the semifinals. Haas contended the cheering group heckled him for errors and missed serves and suggested Querrey might want to rein in his band of rooters.

In an e-mail received today from thesamuraiguys, an apology was made to Haas, kind of.

"First off, we would like to extend an apology to Tommy Haas for what he he believes was 'inappropriate' and 'classless' behavior.... Contrary to what Tommy Haas asserted, we were not cheering his errors and missed serves (our restraint is something we actually take pride in), but, simply applauding (yes, in a pretty boisterous fashion) the unbelievable effort from our former classmate and good friend, Sam Querrey. We understand that this line can easily be blurred in a competitive tennis match and therefore apologize to Haas for the confusion. To make up for it, we would like to follow in the steps of the White House, and offer to take Haas out for a beer (Beck's of course) and reconcile our differences at the upcoming U.S. Open Championships.... Again, we are simply trying to direct some passion and spirit toward the great game of tennis that we all love.... The Samurai."

If Querrey and Haas are drawn to play each other in an early-round U.S. Open match (well, it won't be too early because both should be among the top 32 seeds), one might guess the meeting will be a night match and plenty of Beck's will likely be consumed.